Kim Jong-un (second from right) wanted the military to regain control of the seafood trade, but his uncle refused to give up control, a new report says. Photo: AFP

Kim Jong-un and his uncle Jang Song-thaek fought over the nation’s lucrative shellfish exports, culminating in a firefight between their forces in recent months, a report said, providing a rare glimpse of deep political rifts and how power games are played in the North Korean regime.

Kim had ordered his 67-year-old uncle to give up control of lucrative businesses, especially seafood farms previously run by the military, but the elder refused, according to a report by The New York Times on Tuesday.

The crabs, clams and coal, among other goods, were in recent years exported mainly to China, a country with whom Jang had deep ties.

The businesses had been controlled by the military, to sustain its troops and operations, before Kim handed over some of the trading rights to his cabinet shortly after he took power, the newspaper said.

The profits then passed through Jang’s hands or through state agencies he controlled, it said.

However, when Kim saw that troops were underfed, he ordered Jang to return the businesses to the military, but was refused, the report said. Kim apparently sent more than 100 troops to the seafood farms, sparking a battle with Jang’s loyalists. The troops were “badly” defeated.

The firefight, which “enraged" Kim Jong-un, was said to have taken place either in September or early October, the report said, citing intelligence from South Korean and American officials and accounts from lawyers close to the matter.

The clash, showing Jang’s open defiance of Kim, was “the last straw”, it said, and eventually led to his trial and execution.

Jang, who was married to Kim Jong-il's only sister, was executed on December 12 on charges that included plotting a coup and corruption.

The execution, the biggest political upheaval since Kim took power two years ago, sparked speculation that Jang had lost out in a power struggle with hardline army generals.

Jang's wife reportedly survived the purge, remaining on the list of party officials.

About 88 per cent of North Korea's trade last year involved China, according to figures from the South's Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Exports to China were worth US$2.4 billion last year.

Recently I viewed a documentary where a young N Korean man, who escaped to S Korea, told his story how he was born in a slave camp. At fourteen, he heard his mother and older brother discussing an escape and told on them. A few days later he was escorted to the courtyard to witness his mother's and brother's execution. This is N Korea today. On the other hand, the Chinese Communist Party has treated its people exactly like this since 1949 and is still doing so.
People living in the West have not been allowed to know the truth
concerning the brutal Chinese Communist Party. It is a blood-thirsty
cult that has murdered over fifty million of its own people since 1949
and if it was not for the strength of the American military, it would
have eliminated Western civilization years ago. But because of
insatiable human greed the true nature of this evil Party has never been
exposed to us in the West. Just keep shopping.

The west, in particular the the north americans have their own skeletons in their closet. Just as the north koreans. Besides the USA has made the book "1984" come trust with all the spying on its own citizens that the NSA does.

One could argue the American military has killed just as many people over the years, whether directly or indirectly.
Excluding border skirmishes China has never done ANYTHING to other countries. America on the other hand has killed and continue to kill innocent civilians in OTHER countries, so who is the real evil empire ??

China invaded Tibet, a sovereign nation. They have murdered over 1,000,000 Tibetians saying they are saving the Tibetain people. The only thing the chinese gov. is saving are the resources of the land of Tibet for themselves. They don't care about the people. There are simulateries between China and the American gov. Neither one really cares about their people, only what they can extort from them.
Albe at Jungtosa Zen Buddhist Temple USA

Agreed, amigo. We hear all these stories coming out of the DPRK and no doubt many have them have a degree of veracity. But here's the problem. All of these accounts are filtered through south Korea's National Intelligence Service and those folks are past masters at creating anti-DPRK propaganda. When they "interview" a defector, they have to make sure's he's not a spy from the North. In order to convince the NIS he or she is not a spy, the defector basically "sings for his supper". The more lurid the tale, the more credible he sounds. Plus, the defector has to convince his new master he really hates, the DPRK. Hate! Hate! Hate! Hence, all the stories about mothers drowning babies in water buckets and so forth. Skillful propaganda wraps a narrative around a kernel of truth. Just how large that kernel is, no one can know. I give it maybe 5%, if that.